Stoke Newington Literary Festival: It’s the Drink Talking

I love to read a good book, and also enjoy a beer. So a local literary festival with good beer certainly appeals.

Luckily, just down the road from me is the rather trendy Stoke Newington, which hosts a literature festival each year.

The festival is non-profit, with all proceeds being put back into making the festival better. So drinking more beer is encouraged!

The beer for the festival this year was supplied by Budvar and London’s Five Points Brewery.

Five Points provided several beers, the IPA, the XPA and the Field Day Citrus Pale. The Field Day special is aptly made with the fruity Citra hops and features a cat on the label. Perfect!

And it’s not just talks about your usual books. There are actual discussions about beer!

Author and Stokey resident Pete Brown is a permanent fixture, hosting beer talks, tastings and even acting as MC at many of the events.

At last year’s festival, Pete hosted a tasting talk alongside some local brewers. I remembered it as superb value; there were about four different beers to taste for around £7. Naturally, I was keen to attend this year too.

The first half of the event involved Pete interviewing writer Henry Jeffreys about his new book ‘Empire of Booze‘. This book charts Britains’s love affair with different drinks through the ages. Of course, it does this whilst providing a history lesson at the same time.

In the second half, Pete gave a slideshow presentation with some of the things he learned whilst writing his newly finished book, Miracle Brew. The slideshow included a lot of science fun as well as loads of interesting facts about how beer is made.

I am sure Pete could take his slideshow elsewhere as I thought it was brilliantly informative, even if you are not a beer geek. Various points about beers ingredients were emphasized by a tasting alongside.

If you have not read his books, I recommend them wholeheartedly, and will certainly be getting his latest when I can.

The Stoke Newington Literary Festival took place 2-4 June 2017. You can follow the event on Twitter, Facebook, and sign up for updates on their website.